Shall I Tell the agent about the previous company who interviewed me?

[rashmitambe]

Hi,
I am newbie, looking out for my first contract in midlands area. I have 4.5 years of strong java/j2ee experience (in India). I have just relocated to UK and doing job hunting.

Last week I had a shocking experience. I gave an interview in the morning with a retail house in midlands. The client wanted JMS experience with Sonic MQ. I have JMS+weblogic. But my agent (Progressive) told me that they are not able to find anybody with Sonic MQ and so ready to interview anybody with JMS on any technology. So I went on with the interview which turned out to be very good. I was expecting reply from progressive and then I received a call from computer people regarding another contract job. While talking to the agent, he insisted on knowing the name of the company that interviewed me. I was reluctant and told him that I am still waiting for the result, so I cannot reveal the name. But I was finally caught in his trap, told him the name. He said that the company is their regular client, and he knows many people there, and also the guy who interviewed me. He asked me about the position for which I was interviewed.

In the evening, I received a rejection call from Progressive saying that the client got somebody with Sonic experience, and so I am rejected! After having such a good interview, I did not expect a rejection. And I really became suspicious about computer people agency. i feel that they must have contacted this retail house and sold somebody with Sonic experience. My suspicion confirmed when I received another call from Computer People (the same agent) asking me if I have sonic experience. And then I realized that I had never revealed to this agent that the job required Sonic experience. I really regret talking to him now, but it’s too late!

Anyways, guys tell me one thing; do you have to tell the agent about the interviews you have given till date? Does it sell you more strongly? I mean, if you had an interview with a big firm or blue chip company, does that make you stronger? I am asking this because after appearing for the first 2 interviews, whenever I received any call from any agent, he/she was very curious to know which company interviewed me. Whenever I showed my reluctance, few mentioned that the name of company matters and it would sell my CV more prominently to future companies.

Tell me your experience and advise me.
Thanks and regards,
Rashmi

[Mordac]

Firstly I would recommend 2 things. 1, Stay away from Progressive. And 2, stay away from Computer People. That's not just me saying this, I can confidently predict a steady stream of fellow veteran contractors voicing similar opinions.

>He said that the company is their regular client, and he knows many people there, and also the guy who interviewed me. He asked me about the position for which I was interviewed.

I can also say with absolute confidence that everything the CP agent told you is complete bollox. If he knew the client, why would he need to ask you for details of the contract, when he could simply ring up his client and ask? You have just learned your first valuable lesson. Never, never reveal details of live interviews. I always say I've not had any recently.

>Anyways, guys tell me one thing; do you have to tell the agent about the interviews you have given till date? Does it sell you more strongly? I mean, if you had an interview with a big firm or blue chip company, does that make you stronger?

No, no and no.

Don't feel too bad, all of us have been stiffed by an unscrupulous agency in the past, but usually only once.

[threaded]

Seconded, allegedly.

[OrangeHopper]

I like the line of, "We don't want to put you forward for a job you have already been interviewed for. Could you tell us ....."

Live and learn.

Even better when you get blamed for wasting they time when they actually called you. If only you could put hand down the telephone wire.

[privateeye]

You got caught but one of the oldest tricks in the book - like most of us have in the early days of contracting. You have learnt a lesson and you will not be caught again.

Unfortunately for you you got caught in the middle of cross-fire between two of the most abusive agencies I have ever come across. My advice would always be if an agent is only interested where you have been and puts no emphasis on where they would like you to go then they are after sales leads.

You will find that certain agencies will take advantage of you because you are new to the country - they will do the same to anyone who hasn't researched contracting properly. The majority are OK but the few spoil it for everyone.

You will find that Progressive and Computer People also work on as high a commission as possible and best avoided.

[DodgyAgent]

You got caught but one of the oldest tricks in the book - like most of us have in the early days of contracting. You have learnt a lesson and you will not be caught again.

Unfortunately for you you got caught in the middle of cross-fire between two of the most abusive agencies I have ever come across. My advice would always be if an agent is only interested where you have been and puts no emphasis on where they would like you to go then they are after sales leads.

You will find that certain agencies will take advantage of you because you are new to the country - they will do the same to anyone who hasn't researched contracting properly. The majority are OK but the few spoil it for everyone.

You will find that Progressive and Computer People also work on as high a commission as possible and best avoided.

computer people supply into M&S @ 4% margins

[privateeye]

computer people supply into M&S @ 4% margins

But I know somewhere where it is nearer 40% All the guys from CP were on far lower rates than from any other agency. They will go for as much as they can get but seems M&S were much too good for them and 4% is all they got.

[tim123]

But I know somewhere where it is nearer 40% All the guys from CP were on far lower rates than from any other agency. They will go for as much as they can get but seems M&S were much too good for them and 4% is all they got.

Personally, I see this as a client realising that the margin is actually an important factor in getting (and keeping) the *best* people for the job and realising that this agent mantra of "the margin is irrelevent" is the bollux that it is.

Unfortunately, in this case, by selecting CP as preferred supplier they are probably not going to get the best people as they have limited their supply in an unpredictable way

tim

[privateeye]

Personally, I see this as a client realising that the margin is actually an important factor in getting (and keeping) the *best* people for the job and realising that this agent mantra of "the margin is irrelevent" is the bollux that it is.

Unfortunately, in this case, by selecting CP as preferred supplier they are probably not going to get the best people as they have limited their supply in an unpredictable way

tim

The client actually didn't check to see how much the contractors would get they were only interested in how much they paid the agent, the client pays a fair market rate and now they realise where the money is going - to the recruiter. The client has also realised that they certainly have not got the best people for the jobs. All the contractors are new to the game, just a year or so after graduation, or new to the UK and easily taken advantage of by unscrupulous recruiters. There is no real experience in the team. The few experienced people such as myself left as we don't want to be involved in a failure. The client certainly did not do any homework on their PSL and should take the blame for a bad business decision.

[cojak]

You may not realise it, but you don't have to talk to people if you don't want to!

If an agent has phoned and you don't like the way the conversation is going, just say "I'm busy at the moment - thank you for your interest" and put the phone down.